JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline)-In a sign the Missouri attorney general race is competitive, the Republican State Leadership Committee has given the GOP nominee there $1.1 million to boost his campaign.

State Sen. Michael Gibbons was able to get the contribution because of recent changes in state campaign finance law that abolished campaign contribution limits.

Gibbons' donation came from the Virginia-based RSLC, which operates the Republican Attorneys General Association.

Gibbons and Democratic nominee state Sen. Chris Koster are vying to succeed Attorney General Jay Nixon, who is the Democratic nominee for governor in November.

Gibbons more recently received a $140,000 campaign contribution from Koster's ex-wife, Rebecca Bowman Nassikas, who now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to a campaign finance disclosure filed Sunday.

"I believe my experience with Chris Koster, as an individual and as a public servant, gives me a unique perspective. His record as an individual and as a public servant have shown him to be an opportunist," Nassikas said in a statement. "It took me a long time to fully understand his true character, but there were clues all along."

Nassikas has been divorced from Koster since 2003. During the Democratic primary, she gave $200,000 to a little-known political action committee, Missourians for Honest Leadership, which opposed Koster's candidacy.

Koster last month received a $200,000 contribution from the Democratic Attorneys General Association, based in Denver, Colo.